Topic summary

Despotism

Despotism

Government by a single entity with absolute power Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, is widely regarded as one of the most brutal despots in history, responsible for the deaths of an estimated quarter of Cambodia's population. Suharto, who ruled Indonesia from 1967 to 1998 under the 'New Order' regime, is regarded as a despot whose rise to power followed the 1965–66 anti-communist purges, during which an estimated half a million people were killed, and whose rule was marked by authoritarianism, repression, and endemic corruption. Part of the Politics seriesBasic forms of government List of forms · List of countries Source of power Democracy (rule by many) Demarchy Direct Economic Guided Liberal Representative Social Socialist Others Oligarchy (rule by few) Anocracy Aristocracy Broligarchy Corporatocracy Gerontocracy Imagocracy Kleptocracy Kritarchy Matriarchy Meritocracy Particracy Patriarchy Plutocracy Stratocracy Technocracy Theocracy Autocracy (rule by one) Autocratic legalism Despotism Dictatorship military Tyranny Anarchy (rule by none) Anarchism Free association Stateless Power ideology MonarchyRepublic (socio-political ideologies) Absolute Communist Constitutional Direct